Thorn, the man who drafted Michael Jordan in Chicago, took over as Nets team president and turned them from laughingstock to NBA Finals participant with the trade for Jason Kidd. And after the team was taken apart for financial reasons, Thorn helped rebuild it and made it a viable playoff contender.

Those are the things he wants to be remembered for, not as the architect of the team that forged the worst start in NBA history. That is one reason Thorn, who is in the last year of his contract, hopes to return in his present capacity when Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov officially takes control of the team.

“Yeah, I’d like to. I’d hate to end up on this kind of note,” Thorn said last night. “But nothing has been finalized [regarding the ownership takeover] yet. So whoever is running it, we’ll see and go from there whenever it happens.”

One name that has been mentioned in NBA circles as a possible successor to Thorn is Mauricio Gherardini, the Raptors’ VP of basketball operations. But Gherardini is known to be a fan of Thorn. And there has been no contact with the Raptors about Gherardini moving to the Nets’ front office.

“No, not as of yet,” acknowledged Raptors president and general manager Bryan Colangelo, who also stressed that Prokhorov is not yet the owner.

Prokhorov is expected to be approved by the NBA Board of Governors shortly after the new year.